


Rush

by HappilyNeverEver



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-22
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-22 22:25:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,952
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4852847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappilyNeverEver/pseuds/HappilyNeverEver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Captain Swan College AU. She never expected to be faced with the idea of "going Greek or bust." But at the start of her junior year, Emma Swan has only one financial option when her full ride is ripped away from her. Join a sorority and fight for the "Greek Woman of the Year" scholarship; hopefully the sexy Pi Theta president, Killian Jones, doesn't distract her to losing her 4.0.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I was re-watching "Greek"-(the tv show from a few years back) and this popped into my head. CS college AU's are my fave. Expect parties, drama, and good 'ole college shenanigans. And of course two adorable idiots who take a while realizing that they are kindred spirits and perfect for each other.

"She'll help you."

"No."

"She loves you and will want to help."

"No." She'd tried walking away earlier, but her adopted brother didn't take the hint. She could say 'no' a million different ways, yet David would continue to insist with his heroic nature of trying to save her.

"Emma," he reached out a hand to slow her steady march from financial aid to the student union. She was on waging war path and had little sympathy for anyone who got caught in the cross-hairs. "Asking for help is not a bad thing."

Emma couldn't contain the growl as she wrenched her arm free from David's grip, and continued on down the idyllic paved walkway through the lush green quad.

Recently paved sidewalks.

Seasonal flowers that were constantly being planted and maintained.

Hell, there was a whole staff on campus whose job was to weed the flower beds.

New paint on the chapel that she had only entered into a grand total of once per semester (plus that one time she had go in there for freshman orientation.)

Like a cash register, Emma's mind scanned and calculated every cent the university poured into its campus. Her look darkened as one of the security personnel drove past her in a brand new golf cart.  _Seriously who's job is it who gets to decide what perennial gets planted or how much- wa_ it _... did that golf cart have chrome wheels?_

No wonder the gem of a liberal arts school has to charge and arm and a leg in tuition. It was a cruel reality that the very school of higher education that her brother had to fall in love with would be the very one she would want to go to. (Or really, the very school that David manipulated and used a vast amount of propaganda to convince her to join him a year later, but luckily for Emma by being clever and resourceful and by knowing from a young age that girls like her would just have to work their asses off to get anywhere snagged one of the only full tuition scholarships the University awarded). All of the other poor unsuspecting students suffered from yearly tuition hikes so that the University could stay afloat while the other private liberal arts schools caved to the poor economy and their rising debts.

"Mom would want to help you."

David,  _damn him and his honorable good intentions_ , was still following her.

"I couldn't do that to Ruth." Emma finally uttered something other than the two letter negative she had been feeding him. "She is so close to retirement." Sweet, kind, compassionate Ruth who had taken Emma in and dealt with all of her baggage and orphan teenage angst with the patience of a saint.

"I know," said David, "but she wouldn't want you give up on all that you have worked for."

"There's gotta be something I can do." She grimaced at her limited options. "I'll get another job or something.." It would be difficult to do on top of the job she had as a lifeguard at the campus pool, her work study in the library, and her 18 hour class load. It made her sick just thinking about adding one more thing to her load. "Maybe a loan.."

"Emma," David's voice was part exasperated, part begging. "Please, we can call mom."

"Don't you dare worry her about this." She finally stopped her quick pace down the sidewalk and rounded on him. "David Joshua Nolan, promise me you want call and tell her about this." He open his mouth to argue. "Promise me." And there, she knew she had him pinned. It was a rule of hers ever since she can remember. Don't ask for favors. Don't ask for promises. Don't expect anything from anyone. All those things lead to hope.. which could lead to change.. which could lead to failure.

David looked into his foster sister's fierce green eyes and spoke without realizing what he was agreeing to. "I promise."

She never asked for him to promise anything.. she never asked him for anything this desperately, that he didn't have it in him to refuse her.

"Now," Emma took a deep breath (which felt like the first one to hit her lungs since financial aid drop the bomb of her full ride coming to an end) and turned to walk in the direction they had been heading. "I'm hungry."

* * *

From day one, Killian Jones, had always seen the cafeteria as a place for a sociological study. In a small liberal arts school tucked away in the sleepy town of Storybrook, Maine, the good ole college kids at Carthay University had predetermined groupings that were not unlike those voracious high school cliques. Of course, all that Killian knows about the typical high school experience he gleaned from watching American teen movies. His secondary school experience was sadly limited to that bloody all boys boarding school he got shipped off to when his father was done dealing with him.

"Jones," a voice acknowledged from behind him before slipping around the table to sit across the way.

"Cassidy." Killian kept his voice equally as disinterested as his counterpart.

"So.. Senior year?" Neal Cassidy asked, obviously trying to scramble for something to say.

"Yup," Killian's answer was lacking in his usual verbosity. "Senior year, and just go ahead and stop yourself from asking what are in my plans for after graduation."

"Ugh.. hey man, I wasn't going to ask," Cassidy's dark eyes shrunk in confusion at Killian's hostility. The pair of them had come a long way from wanting to tear each other's throats out in their sophomore year, to this loose acquaintance they had form. It always felt, however, that they sat at a precipice ready to fall off the edge back into their feud.

A pair of blonde heads pulled Killian's thoughts away from the past and Cassidy's stuttering.

"Nolan," Killian nodded in greeting when his tall, blonde fraternity brother passed him.

David, however lacking his usual charming demeanor, tossed a short greeting Killian's way before following hot on the heels of his sister.

Emma Swan.

Easily, the most beautiful female on campus. Also, undeniably the prickliest creature on earth. He was so screwed for her. Had been since his freshman year when during homecoming David introduced his "sister" to him who was still just a senior in high school.

She seemed so bright, like she was made of air and light. During the loud party that raged around them in the house, somehow Killian had found himself on the back porch alone with her. Just talking. They talked for hours about everything and anything that suited their fancy that evening. (It was refreshing considering the things that were going on at the time in his life. The idea that a female could just want to talk to him and nothing else. Not use him. Not constantly put him in a place of submission. Unlike the woman who only wanted the use of his body to make herself feel better about her life.)

Cassidy rolled his eyes at the pair of them. "High and mighty asshole."

Killian wasn't sure he heard right. "Come again?"

"I asked her out."

Ice rushed down Killian's spine. No, he couldn't mean…

"Emma Swan," Cassidy provided when he say Killian's confusion. "She told me she would think about it."

"Oh." Killian could barely contain the nausea that rose up in him. Neal Cassidy with Emma Swan. No. It wouldn't work. It couldn't happen. She was untouchable to the likes of Cassidy.

_Wait..._

_He asked her out?_

Why didn't Killian think of that?... well, he did, and often. He could see it so clearly in his mind. Pulling out the usual suave attitude that worked on co-eds, coming through with some wit and a good timed smolder, and Swan... laughing her ass off at his expense. She had always made it clear how she only saw him as a joke.

"That was last semester." Neal went on. "I mean, man, I had a chance. Really. We were in the same sociology class and she was my partner for the final. God.. she is so hot. That ass.."

Killian's fingers gripped the edge of the dining table in a losing battle of control. How dare Cassidy talk about her like that. Her ass?.. Well, in all fairness, Killian had thought about her ass a lot in the past two years. The way her jeans hugged…  _Get a grip mate._

"So we were together a lot you know," Neal Cassidy continued. "She's cool. Not as hostile as everyone think she is. She's just smart. Anyways, I asked her out. She told me she would think about it, but we needed to focus on our final first. We finished it, turned it in, and bam! She's moved out of her dorm and was on her way home. We texted a few times this summer, and one night got enough liquid courage in me to call her and guess who answers?"

Cassidy paused long enough to cue in that he wanted Killian to actually answer. "Nolan?"

"Exactly," Cassidy tapped his finger in the table for emphasis. "Told me to not bother his sister anymore."

"You think Nolan warned her off of you?" Killian asked with the shake of his head. (Yet another reason her has never really gone after her. Killian was actually friends with David Nolan, and even  _he_  probably wouldn't get the brotherly approval.)

"Only thing that makes since." Cassidy said with a shrug biting into his burger.

_Or she could have just didn't like you, mate. And had her big brother play security against you._  Killian kept his thoughts to himself.

Over the past year, ever since Emma started attending school, Killian had begun to subconsciously always be aware of where she was. Her flashing blonde hair caught his eye as it normally did when she was close by. As Nolan and her sat across each other at one of the smaller tables near a window. The sunlight bouncing off her hair was almost blinding, and Killian fully knew that he was playing Icarus when it came to Emma Swan.

_Cassidy asked her out._

_Why hadn't he?_

Killian managed a casual conversation through the duration of lunch, even when other mutual friends had joined them. One eye on what was going on around them; one eye trained on the sister and brother deep in a colorful argument. Every once and awhile, Nolan would reach across the table for her, prompting a fierce scowl on her face.  _God…_  sometimes when he stared too long he could barely breathe.  _You are a sap Jones. Lovesick tosser._

He had to get out of here.

Saying his goodbyes. He cleared out from his table and exiting through the back door into a long hall of the student union. (Going through the front door would mean walking right by her… and nope, he had put himself through enough torture for the day.)

"Hey Mr. President," a sweet cheerful voice called out to him.

"Well, hello Madam President," he mockingly bowed, but his smile was absolutely genuine.

Without a doubt, the friendship he had developed with the dark hair-sunshine all the time-A-type personality-do gooder Mary Margaret Blanchard was the strangest of his life. Can't say they have always been friends, and their beginnings definitely started with her wanting to make him her pet project so she could "fix" him.  _Lost cause darling_. Eventually her philanthropic attempts turned into a steady friendship that was only bolstered by the all too perfect relationship she had with Nolan.

"Have you seen David?"

"Last I checked he was still in the Caf."

"Is Emma with him?" Her hazel eyes widen almost in fear- no, was that reluctance?- as she fidgeted her slim pale hands.

"Ugh." Killian put on an act like he hadn't just spent the past half hour ogling her profile. "I think so."

"Oh, okay." Her voice sounded diminutive, which was strange since he had always thought that Mary Margaret and Emma had gotten along really well.

"Everything alright in happily ever after land?"

A corner of her mouth pulled up dimpling her cheek. "Everything's good."

"I'm glad to hear that, m'lady." He added a cheeky bow.

"Shut up, Killian." Mary Margaret flicked her head to the side, her short black hair falling to a different angle across her forehead. "You still stuck in Gold's course?"

He had fought his advisor tooth and nail last semester during registration. Yes, he knew he had to take Philosophy of Law, but he had a shred of hope that he could push it back for the spring when he had, fingers crossed, had already been accepted into at least one Law school. His advisor had not seen his logic (and clearly had never heard of the rumors about the law professor who had it out for him), and insisted that he take it since the class was not guaranteed to be offered in the spring.

"Yeah." His answer came out with his exhale of air. "Looks like I'm trapped."

"Well," she grinned, dimples gracing her cheeks. "Maybe something good will come from it."

Mary Margaret's voice hinted at some other meaning than a vague wish of good luck to come his way. She was most definitely up to something.

"What are you on about?" He asked raising one dark eyebrow.

" _Nothing_." Lie. His good natured friend had always been terrible at lying. She was always terrible at keeping secrets, which he learned the hard way their freshman year.

"Right." He turned to go down the hallway as Mary Margaret headed for the back door of the cafeteria. "Not vague at all, m'lady."

* * *

Really, truly, Emma did like Mary Margaret Blanchard. When David went off to college when she still had one more year left of high school, no one was all that surprised when he brought home a preppy girlfriend. David was the steady sort, so during that first fall break home with his new girlfriend, all of their hometown friends began to take bets on when the wedding would be.

At the current moment facing her, Emma was more on the side of the fence of really not liking her brother's girlfriend as she marched across campus indignation fueling her fire for the second time that day.

"You're so smart, I wouldn't worry about it too much. When one door closes, another opens." Emma had been about two seconds from standing on top of the table screaming despite the crowded caf and her desire to keep a low profile.

"I've offered her another door," David had muttered none too quietly. "She's just too stubborn to waltz right through."

S he had enough of the golden couple and excused herself the second Mary Margaret took a pause in her hopeful future speech.

"Have a nice class," her brother's girlfriend (and alright, after all these years, Emma's friend) smiled her way as if she held the greatest secret.

The campus was its usual busy idyllic self during the early afternoon. Late August still had the unforgivable summer heat that caused beads of sweat to gather on Emma's lower back due to her fast pace retreat across the quad. She loved David, truly she did, but he had a tendency to push her past that point of no return. That place where she threw up her old walls even higher to keep him out. Having Mary Margaret on his arm didn't help matters.

She needed to slow down or risk the likelihood of looking like a drowned rat when she finally got to class. Nothing on campus was too far of a walk, 5 minutes was the minimum to get from the student union to the humanities and social sciences building. Emma was going to have 20 minutes to spare, so she took the long way through the building and visited the Ladies before finally strolling into the mostly empty classroom.

Philosophy of Law.

Emma really didn't know what she was thinking back in the spring when she signed up for the class, and sometimes it surprised her that her advisor never batted an eyelash whenever she kept signing up for law classes. She was a business major and her advisor, Dr. Hopper, was the head of the Business department. Surely between the two of them, one of them will get a clue when it comes to the weird classes she always seems to gravitate towards. Realistically, it would be smarter to focus harder on her major and try to graduate early. It save on the money, but ever since her freshman year when the electives available to her were on short supply and she fell into Intro to Law, Emma had been accidentally padding her class load from within the law department.

Middle of the classroom always seemed the best way to go when it came to a Dr. Gold class. There were only a handful of students in the class already, when Emma snagged her favorite seat.

"Semester after semester and you just never learn." Regina Mills, queen of the campus paused at the the table in front of Emma's. "Law classes are not fun. They are for us suckers who think that they can go to law school, be hired by major law firms, make partner before they are 30, and drive bad ass Ferrari's."

"Hi Regina," Emma rolled her eyes and the other girl's theatrics. Their loose acquaintance wouldn't even exist if she wasn't Mary Margaret's step sister.

"Really," Regina eyes her under her perfectly sculpted eyebrows. "Why do you put yourself through the torture?"

Emma shook her head not wanting to have the same old argument with her, just as she spotted Dr. Gold stalking slowly into the room. Maybe it was just her imagination but the room seemed to drop a few degrees whenever the terrifying professor entered. In a strange masochistic way, Emma enjoyed Gold's classes. They were challenging and she enjoyed watching the cranky man cave whenever he gave her an A.

It was technically 5 minutes before class was set to start, but Gold tossed down a stack of pristine white pages at the end of one of the rows of tables. "This semester's syllabus. Read and take note." He announced to the class before heading towards the podium.

"Why am I not surprised?" Gold snarled as the late comer crossed the front of the room and headed down the middle aisle only to slide into the seat next to her.

"It's bloody 1:27," Killian Jones muttered to himself.

Her breath seem to catch in her throat. She hadn't really been near Killian since that last Pi Theta party David and Mary Margaret dragged her to before finals last spring. The very same party where Jones had a few one too many and probably doesn't remember anything he said to her or the way he seemed to gravitate to her on the dance floor.

"You know Gold," Emma said under her breath as she handed the stack of syllabi passing down the row of tables. "Five minutes early means your on time."

"Wanker."

Emma hid her smirk as she reached to her bag on the floor to pull out her laptop. She always got a sick pleasure whenever Jones went what her brother called "full on Brit-mode." Normally, he was easy to follow having been living on this side of the pond since he was a young teenager, but when he was good and drunk or down right riled up about something, Emma had to struggle at following his slurring accent and over abundant British slang.

One look at the syllabus and it was easy to deduct that Gold had it out for them. All of them. As the cranky old professor began delving into the course requirements, the amount of tension in the room grew. The amount of papers due before midterm alone was daunting.

"And for a change of pace," Gold droned on over the syllabus, "there will be a semester long project you will complete with a partner."

Damn. She wasn't expecting that. Gold wasn't known for group projects or partner work, and of course Emma despised partner work of any kind. Relying on someone else was not on her top list of favorite things to do.

"I'll let you choose your partner." Gold level a dark gaze towards Jones. "So choose well."

Beyond the threatening like quality of that statement, Gold immediately delved into the beginnings of a class lecture. Emma had already read the first five chapters in the book they were using in the front half of the semester.

"Well, Swan." Jones' voice reached her from behind as she maneuvered out of the classroom. "What do you say?"

She didn't turn towards him until they had successfully dodged the hall traffic to get to the door leading to the stairs.

"What do I say about what?" She asked using her back to push open the door while taking the opportunity to get a good look at him and all his messy black hair and stormy blue-eyed glory.

"The project." He reached around her to take the weight of the door from her. "We should partner."

She turned away from him laughing, but not before she noticed Killian's usual cocky look drop for a second.

"I think we'd make quite the team." He argued, still following behind her.

"In your dreams."

"Then who?" He pressed as close to her as possible without causing them to tumble down the stairs. "You got any alternatives."

"If you had noticed," Emma grimaced a slightly appreciative smile his way as he reached around her to open a door for her again, "there are an odd number of people in the class. Not to mention this is a Gold class. People will drop."

"And?" He stopped on the patio that fed into different sidewalks throughout the quad. The late summer afternoon sunlight causing him to squint his startling blue eyes to really look at her, and Emma couldn't help but be fascinated by the hidden red hue the sun brought out in his infamous Killian Jones scruff.

"Well, I intend to pinpoint a potential drop person, and then convince Gold to let me finish on my own when they inevitably drop the class."

"What if I told you that I was going to drop the class?" He asked her with a grin she couldn't help but respond with one of her own.

"You're pre-law, you have to take the class."

"And so you bested me," he said leaning towards her. "I guess I'll just have to find another partner." The way he said it left no doubt the innuendo he was hinting at.

"In your dreams Jones," she turned and walked towards the Library.

"Exactly."

She couldn't quite swear that was what he said as she walked away from him, but Emma could most definitely feel his stare burning into her back.


	2. Chapter 2

"Did you look at that one?"

Elsa angled her laptop towards Emma to show her the title and description of yet another scholarship/grant/loan/ _anything_  that will put tuition on the table.

"A scholarship for individuals interested in confectionery technology?" Emma leaned over Elsa's shoulder who was sitting on the floor in front of the couch Emma had taken up residence ever since they got back from dinner. They had been scrolling through as many obscure scholarships and grants that they could find. Sadly most of them had been weeded out simply because they were only awarded to high school seniors and Emma was a junior with the scary prospect of having no scholarships for her senior year.

Poor orphans from tiny towns in Maine just didn't have the funds to pay for a private university.

"You make candy." Elsa defended her find.

"That was one time… in the microwave," Emma shook her head at her roommate.

"Yeah, but," the fair haired girl turned around to look back at her with wide eyes.

"It caught on fire." Emma argued. "We had to get a new microwave."

Elsa eyed her for a moment before shrugging and returning her focus back to her laptop screen perched on the coffee table. "You're just being dramatic."

"Right," Emma said. "Me. Dramatic. I might has well apply for one of the many theater scholarships we ran into earlier. Change career perspectives. Why aim for a 6 figure corporate job, full benefits, and a company car when I can be a starving artist. At least my education was free."

"Stop it," Elsa tsked. "You're not going for a corporate job anyways and you know it."

"Business major." Emma said while stretching her limbs out on the sofa. She had massive crick in her back after wandering around the library all day shelving books. Why were that many books unshelved the first day of classes anyways? Wayward freshman getting lost during their focus group time?

"Face it, Emma." Elsa stood up from her position on the floor. "You'd hate corporate America. Think of spending the next 30 years in a cubicle and get back to me on how you feel about it."

Emma watched her roommate who she had since the beginning of freshman year meander towards the tiny kitchen area. No doubt searching out something to satisfy her substantial sweet tooth. "Want some ice cream?" Elsa called from around the corner.

"Nah," Emma answered after some consideration. "I'm good." She sat up from the couch and pulled Elsa's laptop closer to the edge of the table. There had to be something. The possible scholarships available to college students was an endless (often ridiculous) list. She huffed a laugh at the scholarship for "Duck Calling."

Well..

She googled searched duck calling and was about to click on the youtube link when a knock on their front door startled her.

"You getting that?" Elsa called from the kitchen.

"Yeah yeah," she muttered while pulling herself up off their fluffy couch they snagged last year from an estate sale. Elsa had an amazing ability to find the best yard sale deals. Seriously, Emma had placed a few bets on whenever her roommate would finally land a tv deal for her show on how to work the buy and sell market.

"I've figured it out."

Emma had barely gotten the door open before Mary Margaret came barreling into the apartment. Her cheeks were flushed and she sounded out of breath.

"What?" Emma asked with some reservation. Sometimes her brother's girlfriend reminded her of an over excited puppy.

"Your financial aid problem." She explained as if it were obvious.

Emma couldn't stop her irritation from rearing its head at the personal intrusion. Her old fail-safe of trying to protect herself from others urged her towards extreme privacy. Leveling a heavy gaze at Mary Margaret, she tried to reign in her natural tendency to protect herself. All signs were pointing to the fact that Mary Margaret was here to stay in her life and she needed to remind herself that the short haired optimism on a stick was just looking out for her.

"What do you mean?" Emma asked with as little hostility as she could muster.

"There's a scholarship that is perfect for you." Mary Margaret explained in a rush a words while lowering herself on the living room couch. No doubt hearing the commotion, Elsa had re-entered the living room carrying a bowl of ice cream close to her chest while leveling a curious gaze towards Emma.

"And?" Emma's roommate prompted their friend.

"It's a scholarship given out here to an upperclassman female," Mary Margaret explained. "They only award it every other year to a sophomore or junior with a 4.0."

"Really?" Emma asked dubiously.

"It's a two year full ride."

"Emma," Elsa gasped quietly, her voice weighted with unspoken meaning.

It was almost too good to be true. A full ride scholarship for an upperclassman, female, and 4.0?

"Why haven't we heard about it?" Emma asked. "What's the catch?"

Like mercury, Mary Margaret's excited, hopeful expression shifted quickly before landing on the one she had been wearing. A normal person would have never noticed the shift, but Emma had spent her early childhood having to read the emotions and moods of people just to keep herself out of anybody's bad side.

"Well… there is one thing." Mary Margaret shrugged apologetically. Oh. Emma knew she wasn't going to like this one. "It's not a big deal.."

"Out with it." Emma demanded, but amended quickly after Elsa sent her a reproachful look. "Just lay it on me, please." She fought to soften her voice.

She'd do it.. whatever it was that Mary Margaret was rearing up to tell her. This was a full ride they were talking about. Two year full ride… she could take a 5th year, something she'd only thought about it in passing. She'd have time to double major. It couldn't be that bad of a requirement-

"You see, it's called the Greek Woman of the Year Scholarship. So, you would have to join a sorority."

Oh.

Hell no.

Except that. Anything but that.

"See?" Mary Margaret's eyebrows and her smile so wide that her twin dimples took up prominence on her face. "It's not so bad."

No.

That had always been her standby answer to that question. Ever since David went off to college and somehow found himself in the Greek system, everyone and their uncle had to know if she too would follow in his footsteps. David fit in with his Pi Theta brothers. He was just that type of person who thrived in a fraternity, but Emma?... No. She enjoyed the frat parties to a certain extent, but she had watched Mary Margaret subtly for the past couple of years with her duties involving her sorority and frankly, it just didn't seem worth all the trouble.

"Umm.." Emma reached for Elsa's laptop and pulled it towards her to deflect from her pseudo-sis-in-law's intensely energetic gaze. Mary Margaret look like the cat who caught the canary, and deep down, Emma hated to be the one to burst her bubble. "Yeah, I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

It really wasn't. Emma was the last person who would function well in sorority life.

"It's not as bad as you think." Mary Margaret was not deterred by Emma's reluctance at all.

"I'm sure it's great for some people," Elsa said with her soft voice. Emma could never be too grateful for her roommate's gentle but pragmatic nature. "I just don't think Emma's the right type of person for it."

"That's just the thing," Mary Margaret said, "there's so many sororities to choose from, you're bound to find one that works for you."

"Yeah," Emma said with a more confident and firm voice, "I'm not going to go that way. Thanks, but I know that it wouldn't ever work out."

* * *

"Why?" Emma whined from her perch on Ruby's half made bed.

"Because.  _Emma_." Ruby huffed at her friend's reluctance while still digging through her overly full closet. "One day you'll be old and even more boring than you are right now, and you're going to need some wild and crazy college stories to tell the grand kids."

"Grand kids?" Emma's eyebrows rose up as she grabbed a red sequin studded pillow to squeeze between her hands "I think you missed a few steps."

"What about this one?" Ruby asked holding up a bright lacy, fuchsia number from her closet.

"Is that a dress?"

" _Yes._ " Emma's friend rolled her eyes. "It's a dress." Ruby tossed it towards her bed before turning back to her closet.

"There is no way that there is enough fabric for this to be a dress." Emma held up the so called dress to further exam it.

"You'd look hot in that." Ruby's voice was muffled by the closet and it's impending explosion of clothing.

"Well," Emma said trying to hold the dress up to her body. "David would at least choke if I wore it. That's funny."

"Oh oh," Ruby exclaimed as she fought another hanger that was caught up with its fellows. "Look. Even better."

All Emma could tell was that it was short and red.

Ruby held it up against herself before tossing it towards Emma and the bed containing the ever growing stack of discarded and coincidentally scandalous items. This new one, however, never made it in the discard pile as Emma held it up to examine it further.

"Try it on," said Ruby, back already turned to her closet again. "I got it this summer and for once Granny didn't have to fake a heart attack when she saw me."

By Ruby's standards it was mild, but by Emma's, it still showed more skin than she was accustomed to.

What the hell. She could have at least try it on..

Ruby froze, eyes wide when Emma finished zipping up the back. "Oh.. wow."

"It's okay?" Emma bit her lip and stop the sudden urge to use friction to warm up her now exposed arms.

"Okay? Just okay?" Ruby came closer to her friend. "More like hot damn! Emma just look at yourself."

Reluctantly, Emma turned towards the full length mirror on the back of the door. Ruby was never getting this dress back.

The sleeves cut inwards showing off the fruits of her labors when she agreed to workout all summer with David. The muscles of her shoulders and arms were on full display, while the red fabric cinched tightly at her waist and slightly flared out on her hips. And, Hello Legs. This dress was long for Ruby's standards, while stopping mid thigh on Emma.

"So?" Ruby asked as she pulled black lace from the closet. "You gonna come to the party?"

"Ruby-"

"C'mon Emma." Ruby cut-off the refusal Emma was preparing. "Live a little. You're only in college once."

"I know, but-"

"Nope! No excuses." Ruby tossed the item in her hands over the back of her desk chair before she came closer to grab at Emma's hair, pulling the elastic from her hair that had secured up the ponytail. "You're coming out with me," Ruby said using her fingers to comb out Emma's waves. "You're going to have fun." Turning towards her desk (that mostly acted as a vanity covered in hair and skin products and lacked any real academic purposes) Ruby skimmed over the items littering the surface until she located a tube of bright red lipstick. "Drink a little. Dance a little. Maybe loose enough inhibition and find a cute guy to flirt with a little."

"Yeah right," Emma said as carefully as possible while Ruby currently had her face trapped as she applied the dangerous red lipstick.

"You never know." Ruby, who after being finished with primping Emma, had begun dressing in the little black lacy number she had pulled out for herself. "You might meet your Prince Charming."

* * *

"Mary Margaret always says these parties are against the rules." Emma pondered out loud as she and Ruby walked along the driveway to the back of the large house.

"Technically," Ruby agreed. "The frats aren't suppose to have any parties until after both boys and girls' rushes are over, but c'mon, there's no way they just can't celebrate the first week back. So, the invention of the 'secret party.'" Ruby waved her arms towards the tall brick walls of the Pi Theta house, which currently appeared dark from the street, but the loud music and multitude of co-eds wandering around the back didn't seem all that secretive.

"What's so secret about it?" Emma asked.

"Well, no freshmen allowed." Ruby lead Emma towards the back patio and up the steps of the deck which already contained a substantial line waiting at the back door. A line that Ruby completely ignored. "Your name also has to be already on a list."

"And mine name is?" Emma asked as she smiled apologetically to some of the people they were clearly skipping in line.

"Your brother is the VP and well…" Ruby nodded her head in the direction of the person with a clipboard who clearly was managing who came in the door.

Walsh.

"Oh," his eyes went comically wide when he looked up from his list and spotted her. "Uh.. um.. Emma. Hi."

"Hey Walsh," she turned on as polite of a smile she could manage. They hadn't dated per se (Emma didn't date anyone), but she had gone to dinner with him after David had pressured her to agree to be his date at the Pi Theta spring formal. She agreed to the formal, but Walsh had insisted they go out before hand to "get to know each other."

"You look…" he shook his head as if clearing it. "How was your summer?"

"Good," Emma said. "Have a good evening." She moved quickly away from the door wanting to get far enough away from the stilted conversation. Ruby, all the while, giggling at the awkward greetings, muttering something under her breath that sounded close to 'poor guy.' He really wasn't a bad guy… she guessed. A bit off beat with a layer of creepy? That was a pretty good description. She'd ended up spending the Pi Theta spring formal with David and Mary Margaret and a few of the other PT brothers she knew well, including...

"Emma." Ruby leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "12 o'clock."

Emma looked straight ahead but only saw a couple of sophomore girls looking like they had a few too many.

"I don't think you know what that means, there's no-" Emma trailed off when she saw him eyeing her (even though he was more to her 10 o'clock).

Killian Jones was in a circle of people, solo cups in hands, carrying on a lively discussion that he was clearly not paying attention to. Instead his eyes were glued on her. He shook his head in disbelief before recovering and shooting her his usual cocky wink her way.

"How have you not jumped on that?" Ruby asked.

"Don't be ridiculous," Emma said and grabbed Ruby's elbow to lead her to the kitchen. "I do believe you told me to drink a little."

"Yeah, girl, that's the spirit!"

* * *

He hadn't expected her to just appear like that. A vision in red. Legs… holy god, her legs. Her hair had that tousled almost 'bed head' look that had the blood in his brain leaving quickly and going south.

It wasn't the first time, Killian had seen her at a PT party. There had been many that she had appeared out of nowhere normally in her armor of jeans and leather jackets in the company of her brother and his girlfriend. He'd never forget that evening last spring when she thoroughly bested him in beer pong. Rosy cheeked and tipsy, she lorded her victory over him, and he couldn't find one reason to complain when he got to see Swan so free and happy.

"Was that Emma?"

Killian turned towards her brother, who was a little inebriated. Mary Margaret would never break Rush rules by attending a 'welcome back to school' secret party, but that clearly did not stop her boyfriend from partaking in the annual festivities.

"What did you say mate?" Killian asked trying to mask the fact that he had been staring at his friend's sister in a not so innocent way.

"I thought I saw…" David started to wander towards the kitchen, and Killian couldn't help but follow him. Every time Swan graced the PT house with her presence, Killian promised himself he wouldn't approach her and make a fool out of himself, but every time some excuse would generate in his head. He couldn't let the fair maiden deal with her less than sober, over protective brother alone. That would be bad form.

On the way towards his destination, Killian was constantly being held up by party goers, and by the time he got to the kitchen, he was presented with the image of a very angry Emma Swan facing off with her equally angry brother.

"This isn't like you," David hissed, while trying to grab at her elbow.

"What the hell does that mean?" She asked, forcefully knocking his hand away.

Killian noticed Ruby Lucas standing a few feet away from the confrontation watching the brother and sister like a tennis match. When she saw him standing in the doorway, she gave him an amused smile with a shrug of her shoulders before turning towards a keg to get some libations.

"Aww," he said loud enough be heard across the room. "Sibling love at its finest."

"Back off, Jones."

"Killian, shut up."

Sister and brother spoke simultaneously.

"Well, I can see I'm wanted." He continued towards them anyways.

"Tell her, it's time to go home." David turned his bloodshot eyes towards him.

"I'm not going to get in the middle of this." He'd learned the hard way of ever choosing sides between the two. The first few times he did, he found himself flipped over on his axis and had both of them united against him. Getting in between the two stubborn blondes never ended well for him.

"David," Emma said. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Emma," David all but begged. "Please."

"No." Emma turned towards the corner of the kitchen that had become the keg service station. In her haste and anger, she clumsily filled up a solo cup.

"What is she doing here?" David turned his anger on him. "How'd she get on the list."

"She's always on the list," Killian said carefully. "She's your sister."

"Yeah, well… she's normally not dressed like that." David waved a slightly uncoordinated hand towards the red dress that would, no doubt, take up precedence in Killian's less than PG dreams of his friend's sister.

"Nothing will happen to her, mate." Killian laid a steadying hand on David's shoulder. "All the lads know she's your sister and that they would have to answer not only to you, but to me and your girlfriend's wrath if they ever tried anything to her."

"I know." David grumbled while keeping a close eye on Emma and Ruby talking in the corner with drinks in hand.

"Not to mention," Killian said, "they would have to at least cross some of Swan's defenses that would make them go running for the hills."

With that statement in the air, David pondered for a moment before turning a serious eye towards Killian. "Keep an eye on her?"

"Of course."

A hiss from the corner distracted him from David's departure.

"Damn Emma." Ruby Lucas was holding Swan's free hand up close to her face. "Did you do that on the keg?"

There was indeed a nasty looking gash on her palm that Killian could see when he got closer to the two ladies.

"Need some help?" Killian asked.

"I'm fine."

"Let me see, Swan." Killian reached for the hand in question whistling low. "Looks like you need that tending too."

"I really don't." She rolled her eyes but didn't bother to even try to pull her hand away from his.

He tucked the arm of the injured hand carefully through his and glanced over at Emma's friend before pulling her with him. The wink and wicked grin that Ruby tossed his way was all the encouragement he needed to drag Swan towards the main hall with the staircase.

"C'mon along Swan." He guided her up the stairs. "Wouldn't want the wound to fester."

"Why the hell do you always talk like that?" Her laughter and the press of her body into his side filled him up with a strange feeling he had not felt in a long time.

__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up might just contain a hot hand bandaging scene. hint hint.


	3. Chapter 3

"Let me see it."

"It's fine," Emma said as she guarded her hand against her chest.

Killian rolled his eyes at her stubbornness. "No, it's not."

Emma reluctantly allowed him to pull on her wrist so he could get a better look at her still bleeding palm. She had whined and fussed all of the way up the stairs and into his room. She was being juvenile, she knew that, but ascending those stairs in the Pi Theta house with the notorious Killian Jones was bound to start rumors. Not to mention, the uneasy flip of her stomach when he had threaded her injured hand through the crook of his elbow as he guided her through the house.

"Up you get," he said nodding towards the spacious bathroom counter. Being the president of Pi Theta had its perks, like his own en suite bathroom for instance. Emma couldn't remember if she had ever been in Killian's room before. She'd been all over the house, and had been in David's room and in the guest bathroom downstairs that was reserved for any females visiting the house. The PT's kept a fairly orderly house, but it was still a frat house with boy smell and the less than pristine bathroom. Killian's room was a different story altogether.

After crouching down to dig in a cabinet underneath her perch, Killian stood up with a more than adequate first aid kit.

"Well aren't you a regular boy scout."

"Haha." Voice dripping with sarcasm, he flipped open the plastic container and peaked up at her with a genuine smile. "See who's laughing when the next time you're on your own and you get gangrene from a clumsy mishap."

"I'm not clumsy." Her voice rose in pitch with her indignation.

"The bleeding wound would say otherwise." He started to wash the blood off her palm. The tenderness in his ministrations caught Emma off guard. "Laugh all you want, lass, but I would hate it if one of your lovely hands had to be amputated due to infection."

Killian continued with his doctoring as Emma watched his dexterous fingers in amazement, while trying to hide the fact that she was studying him as a whole. Ever since she came to visit David her senior year of high school, she could see right through the facade that made up the cocky Killian Jones. The Irritatingly inappropriate, flirtatious, know-it-all Jones persona that he crafted for everyone else aggravated her to no end, but something happened the night they met. Maybe he was just having an off day. From almost the moment they were introduced, he had let the persona drop, and Emma had seen him for the real him. The encounter had stuck with her so closely that while she wanted to murder him on most days, she treasured the moments when she saw him like this. Dark eyelashes brushing his cheekbones underneath a furrowed brow while he gently cared for what she saw as a completely superficial injury.

After wrapping very unnecessary gauze multiple times around her hand, he brazenly tightened and securely tied it with the assistance of his teeth. Slowly. His pupil blown eyes trained intently on her own.

"Really?" Emma's voice came out breathy due to the low swoop her stomach had taken when his mouth was that close to her hands.

"Really." He confirmed with barest brush of his lips against the back of her fingers.

Emma knew, oh how she knew, that he liked her. Well, she guess she would call it "like." Maybe it was lust or fascination or that he knew she would be a challenging chase, or maybe it was a combination of all those things and the danger he would be risking if David ever found out they had gotten up to something. While David considered Killian as his best friend and brother, he had made it completely clear to Emma that he would murder Killian Jones in cold blood if he ever tried anything with his sister. While she knew about Killian's interest in her, she would never doing anything about it, and had hopefully drawn enough lines and built enough walls that he would take the hint and have enough self preservation to not even try to stupidly scale them.

It was, however, wickedly fun to tease and flirt with him. The pair of them had always been in sync and weirdly connected.

"Swan?"

"Huh?" She broke out of her thoughts.

"I asked if it felt any better."

"Uh, yeah." Emma leaned back as far away from him until her back came in contact with the bathroom mirror, and squeezed her legs tightly together building up those barriers.

"Good," he quietly murmured. "I hate to see you hurt." His voice was so full of sincerity that Emma's chest ached and she couldn't find any words to reply.

"I like this," he said nodding towards her.

"What?"

"This dress," he fingered the strap on her shoulder. "I mean, don't get me wrong lass, I so do love those tight jeans and boots, but…" He shook his head, eyes twinkling. "This is a nice change of pace."

Sincere, quiet Killian Jones was hard for her to deal with. Audacious and flirtatious Killian Jones was an easy one to tear apart.

"I'm afraid," Emma said. "This will be a once in a lifetime chance."

"Well then," he said getting closer into her space. "I shall have to enjoy it in my dreams then."

"I hope they torment you." She smiled wickedly.

"Ooo," he raised a solitary eyebrow. "Kinky."

Emma wasn't sure what was more satisfying, the wince and rush of air he let loose when she kicked him in the shin with Ruby's sharply pointed stiletto that her friend had crammed her into tonight or the fact he gave her just enough space to slip from the counter and leave his bathroom.

"You know how much I love your feisty side, Swan." His voice followed her to where she had begun to subtly explore his freakishly tidy bedroom. She sat down on the edge of the bed, giving it a good testing bounce before settling to look at the photo frames on his bookshelf and then skimming the titles of the books themselves (which were ordered alphabetically. Of course).

"I didn't peg you for the OCD type." She said to him when he joined her in the bedroom.

"Don't want an unsightly mess to ruin the mood when I strategically lure a girl in her with offer of first aid, and then seduce her with my good looks and charm."

"Cut the crap, Jones." The look she leveled him would have sent lesser men for the hills, he just smiled a mega watt smile and up the charm even more.

"My brother," he said when he realized that she was genuinely interested.

"Liam?" Emma asked. It wasn't too hard to remember the older Jones' brother she had met last year. Kind and good-natured Liam Jones who had shared quite a few embarrassing stories from Killian's childhood. That had been an entertaining evening.

"Aye," he answered in his usual fashion. "That pompous navy man had a great influence on me when I was younger. Old habits are hard to break."

"Thank goodness my older brother has not influenced my living habits," Emma said while recalling all the many times Mary Margaret had gotten so fed up with David's disorganization and just did it for him.

"No kidding," he agreed while perching himself down on his computer chair to face her. "Liam is eight years my senior, so if I were to be psychoanalyzed, he would be considered my father figure." Emma guess that was true since despite not knowing all the details, she knew that Killian had no real parents in the picture.

"I like him," Emma quietly said. "He was probably a good influence."

"Yeah." Killian's voice was wistful as he looked at the same row of pictures that Emma had eyed the heavily featured photos of his curly headed brother.

"Can I…" Emma folded her hands tightly on her lap and avoided looking at him.

"What is it, love?"

"Okay," she said, smoothing down the short skirt of her dress wishing for some more length of material to cover her chilled legs. "Can you be serious?" She looked up into his blue eyes trying to read him.

"Swan?"

"Promise me you won't lord this over me later?"

"You know I can be serious if need be." His voice took on a hushed tone.

"Okay," Emma looked at him squarely. "Killian Jones. I need some advice."

As expected, the corners of his mouth ticked slightly upwards, but he held in whatever teasing comment that was dying to escape. "What is it?" He asked.

"Say…" she didn't know where to begin. "Alright, say, you have been put into an impossible situation that threatens to tear down any bright future you had hoped for."

"Emma," he interrupted, "has someone hurt you?" His voice was serious and laced with something dangerously protective.

"No, nothing like that." Damn… she couldn't figure out how to word her predicament without divulging the actual issue or without sounding like an over-dramatic nutcase. "Ugh." She ran her hands through her hair. "I have a full ride here."

"I'm aware."

"Well." Emma floundered for words. She should have just said thanks to first aid and moved on, or better yet not been a clumsy idiot the moment he walked into the kitchen all stormy blue eyes and messy hair. "Some unforeseen issues have arose, and I have been informed that my scholarship will no longer exist for my senior year."

"Go on," he said, knowing that she hadn't gotten to the part where she actually needed advice.

"There's another scholarship I qualify for, but it requires me to do something that I don't think I cab go through with."

He nodded his head before resting his chin on a closed fist. "Will this thing kill you?"

"Figuratively?" She asked.

"Literally."

"No."

"Will it cause you bodily harm?" He asked.

"Well… maybe?" She smiled reluctantly, before shrugging her shoulders with a sigh. "No," she said.

"Is it illegal?" Killian asked.

"It should be."

"Swan." He voice was serious as he deflected her sarcasm.

"No."

"If it's not going to hurt you and it's not illegal, then I doubt it can be that bad."

"It could mentally scar me."

"You're already too far gone for that," he teased with a smile before dodging the pillow she aimed at him. "Swan. I think you already know what the best thing to do is. You're just being stubborn and stalling."

She wanted huff and roll her eyes at him, but he was dead on accurate. She knew what she had to do. She just didn't want to do it.

"Fine," she said as she stood up from his bed. "We should go back down."

"Just remember my help." Killian said as he followed her back down to the party. "Especially when I suggest being partners in Philosophy in Law again."

"Not going to happen, Jones."

"That'd be hilarious. You should do it."

Emma rolled her eyes and tried to smooth back the fly-away's from her ponytail one handed. The humidity in the indoor pool was only slightly lessened by the fact that she had propped open the large glass doors before she started her shift in the life guard chair. When she had gotten to the pool, she didn't know whether or not to be grateful for the solitude that a weekday evening provided while she was on guard duty. She spent the first 10 minutes wandering around the pool deck checking the filter for debris, reading the water thermometer no less than 6 times, rearranging the stack of kick boards by size and color… anything, really, that would take her mind off her troubles. Thankfully, Emma's new-found OCD practices were interrupted by a familiar swimmer.

"If you could even get into one," said Graham with a teasing glint in his eyes as he hovered in the water beneath where her "guard" chair (the least dirty plastic lawn chair she found in the supply closet) sat at the edge of the pool.

"Shut up." She reached with her converse clad foot and nudged a shoulder of one of his folded arms. "I could get into one."

Graham raised an eyebrow.

"If I wanted to," Emma added.

"If." Graham pushed away from the edge while treading in the middle of his lap lane. The swim team wouldn't start officially practicing for another couple of weeks. Not wanting to get out of shape, Graham had a plan to get a good practice in until he realized Emma was on guard duty. She had noticed that his solo workouts often just resulted in him hanging around her, and her being thoroughly distracted.

"If." Emma agreed, before he kicked off towards the deeper end of the pool resuming his workout.

She could do it if she had to. Dig in and join that lifestyle for a couple of years. Full tuition with room and board would make her do a lot of things.

But two years of Greek life?

Two years of rules and regulations, two years of monthly dues, two years of matching shirts, formals, parties, all of the other strange things and terminology she had experienced vicariously through Mary Margaret.

And what if she went for it, and she didn't even get awarded the scholarship?

Yeah.

No thanks.

"But," Graham had resurfaced in front of her after a few laps, eyes all bugged out underneath his goggles. "You're the type of girl those sororities drool over."

"Yeah right," Emma said, leaning back in the plastic chair while readjusting her grip on the red lifeguard float in her lap.

"You are." He had pulled his goggles up on his forehead while treading in the water. "Blonde, athletic, gorgeous.."

Emma gave him the same warning look she had been giving him since their freshmen orientation when he had quite ceremoniously declared to their entire tour group that she made the quad look that much better. The look never slowed him down or the half dozen "no's" she had given him whenever he had asked her out their first semester. Despite her continual refusal, Graham hadn't been like other turned down guys, but had offered her the olive branch of friendship which she had accepted. He was, after all, a really great guy.

"A good GPA goes a long way, and your brother is a big time PT"."

"Where are you going with this?" Emma was not amused with the verbal dissection.

"You've got all these assets-" she gave him the look again which made Graham change gears. "uh.. you have all these great things about you, but… you know…"

"Know what?"

"Ya know." Graham half splashed, half waved his arm in her direction before pulling his goggles down as if to continue with his workout.

"What?" she hissed.

Emma stood up from her chair as he began to push off down the lane. "Graham Humbert," she raised her voice to guarantee that he would hear her "if you don't tell me right now, I'll tell Ruby why you missed her birthday last year… or rather who was the reason you missed her birthday party."

"You wouldn't." He spluttered.

"Dare me."

"Alright," he said moving back over to the edge. "I surrender."

"So? Emma prodded after a moment of Graham sheepishly eyeing her with his puppy dog eyed look. He ducked his head and readjusted his grip on the pool's ledge, biceps flexing. Emma wasn't blind. She knew exactly what type of fine college boy specimen he was, but Emma had tagged him on their first day on campus as a good guy. Never in a million years would anything work out between her and a "good guy," and if they ever went down that road, she'd lose her friend she had made. Emma wasn't going to risk it.

"You got it all… except." There he was being vague again. The teasing glint he had earlier all but faded.

"Graham."

"You're," he said reluctantly, "icy."

"Icy?"

"Prickly?" He offered another adjective that was no better than the first.

"You don't play nice with others." With that, Emma reached an end of her lifesaving flotation device to wallop his head, and per usual, he saw coming. Graham duck deep down under the water's surface avoiding the foam object as it smacked against the top of the water.

Graham didn't stop by her chair after their last encounter. "I can play nice," Emma muttered to no one but the pool chemicals floating in the air while waiting for the end of her shift.

Her decision was becoming inevitable.

The Rush application form had been sitting on her desk completely blank for the past two days taunting her.

The applications were due the following day where she would have to sit in a meeting and be read all of the rules along with all the wide eyed freshman who have been dreaming about this their entire lives. What the hell was she doing? She couldn't go through with it. This was a terrible idea.

Graham had been the only person she had told that she was even considering it. She came close to telling Killian that night at the party, not only in his room during their surreal conversation, but also later that evening one too many beers in and after he handed her a couple of shots of rum.

His cheeks were rosy from the alcohol, and he had content look upon his face as they sat on the swing together on the dark front porch of the PT house as the party had all but officially ended. As usual they always found things to talk about. Funny stories about their friends, lamenting over the shared experiences of overprotective, older brothers, making fun of Gold and any other professor they had in common. They had been in a ironically deep discussion about the origin of that hat Killian's frat brother William Smee always seem to wear and what could be underneath it. Killian swore he had seen Smee come out of a shower their freshman year wet hat and all. Emma, ever logically thinking, didn't believe him.

Wanting to equally shock him, she had a burning desire to really tell him about the stipulations of that scholarship and what she was considering. In the end, she held it in.

"It won't kill you to at least explore the option," Elsa said from Emma's doorway.

"What?" Emma turned startled towards her apartment mate.

"You're considering joining a sorority to get that scholarship." Elsa informed her of her knowledge of the application just sitting on her desk for a few days. "Just see where this leads and maybe it will surprise you."

"Will you be my personal reference?" Emma turned towards her friend with a smile of acceptance.

She can't believe she was doing this.

Emma Swan was going through rush.


	4. Chapter 4

The campus was filled with the hues of red and black as the student body migrated from tailgating and quad parties to the ever filling stadium for the the first football game of the year. Carthay wasn't really known for any stellar athletic program, but last year in a stroke of serendipity, a new head coach, and a freshman quarterback with a killer arm that seemed to come out of nowhere and Carthay U found itself making it all the way to the second round of playoffs for the Division 2 championships.

There had always been a bout of controlled enthusiasm at the start of each season, but this was the most school pride Killian had ever seen displayed by his fellow classmates. Drinking his (according to David Nolan) obnoxious craft beer while sitting on the swing of the front porch of the PT house, Killian watched the one of a kind novelty of team spirit and the Carthay Royals' first ever football fever.

"Hey Jones." The voice of his Pi Theta brother Robin spoke from the opened front door. "You going to the game?"

"I might," Killian said while raising his pint glass towards Robin in a silent toast before taking a long swallow that about finished it off. "I might not," he said after he swallowed.

"Slow down mate," Robin said as he came fully out of the door. "It's not even 11 yet."

"Oh good," Killian said after finishing his beer. "It's almost 11. I can start drinking rum soon."

"So I take that as a no for the game." Robin said with a chuckle as he settled on the brick ledge that ran along the edge of the porch. "Didn't you and Nolan give a rousing speech at the last chapter meeting about campus presence and it's relevance to rush."

"Relevance to rush?" Killian scowled at his empty glass. "I said that?"

"Nolan did."

He really wouldn't know what happened at the last meeting. Despite being president, he liked when Nolan took over with all the trivial matters. He couldn't remember the last time he fully lead a meeting, considering his vice president liked to interrupt to give impassioned speeches any opportunity he could find.

"If Nolan said it, then I'm definitely not going." A flash of sunshine caught his attention from the sidewalk.

"You're an idiot," Robin laughed as he caught a look of what distracted Killian from the conversation.

"Swan," Killian called out to the distraction while getting up from the swing and thrusting the empty pint glass in Robin's hands as he passed him.

In her usual determined fashion, Emma had been purposefully striding down the sidewalk and up the front walkway to the house.

"Hey." She replied when she got the bottom of the steps.

"What brings you here this morning?" Killian leaned against a column at the top of the stairs.

"Is David here?" Emma's bright green eyes were squinted against the late summer sun as she lingered on the bottom step.

Killian looked towards Robin for enlightenment, but his friend shrugged his shoulders.

"Not sure," Killian said turning back towards her. "I could lead you upstairs."

Emma had already been mounting the front stairs when he offered his guidance, but she just laughed at his suggestion. "No thanks." She patted his arm as she passed. "I can find my way." With that she ducked into the open door in search of her brother.

"Bit testier than usual." Robin commented.

"Trust me," Killian looked back at his friend. "That was mild compared to normal, and I might have interfered this week."

"Like I said," Robin said from next to him as he handed back the wayward pint glass. "You're an idiot."

"Like you're any better." Killian rolled the glass between both hands as he eyed his friend. "I saw you getting cozy with the Phi Omega president at last week's party."

Robin's cheeks and tips of his ears went red.

"What's her name?" Killian went on. "The queen bee?"

"Her name is Regina." Robin's voice was quiet. "You know that already."

He did know that already, considering the all Greek council he was forced to sit through bi-weekly due to his presidential status. He would never admit it out loud, but Regina Mills scared the bloody shit out of him. The intensity with which she ran her sorority was both terrifying and impressive.

"Too right" Killian said while watching the door as if Emma would just reappear.

It would take him awhile to ever get use to the fact that Emma Swan was going through rush. He had found out Tuesday in the caf when he spotted her sitting with Nolan, her ever present scowl on her face. Wanting that half annoyed half amused smirk she often gifts him with, Killian approached the pair carefully with a few witty remarks up his sleeve. He only got pulled into the discussion of the importance of rush rules and how Emma needed to follow them if she wanted to join one.

"What's this?" He had asked her. "Emma Swan is going Greek?"

If looks could kill, he'd been a dead man.

"At least I'm doing something productive." Robin's voice brought him back into the present. "You only ever succeed at irritating the lady."

"Productive?" Killian raised a brow at his frat brother.

"Yes," Robin said. "Unlike my wayward president, I'll be going to the game and I have date for it."

"You're a braver man than me, mate," Killian said.

"Here's a thought," Robin said as he stepped off the porch into the sunlight. "Stop trying to irritate her and getting under her skin, and be the great guy I know you are and win her the honest way."

"I don't think she's the type to be won."

"Maybe not," Robin agreed. "But she isn't heartless. The heart wants what the heart wants, and your heart has wanted hers for a long time now and I don't think she has been immune to it."

"How poetic and sentimental, you sap." Killian called out to his friend's already retreating form.

* * *

"Well," David rolled his eyes at his stubborn foster sister. "You're going to have to at least tell her this."

"David," Emma groaned. Her head was held in her hands as she sat crossed-legged in the middle of his bed.

"My dad, when he was alive," David said softly. "Had sat aside money for me when I went to school and joined a fraternity. Of course, I think he always wanted me to join  _his_  fraternity, but mom still wanted me to use the money for it."

"See?" Emma looked up at him. "The money is for you. I don't want to use it up."

"Emma." David rolled his desk chair closer to the edge of the bed. "It's my senior year and I have barely put a dent into the funds he left for me. Dad had high expectations of me going to one of the really large universities with a wild Greek system and join the one he went to that has a tendency to spit out presidents and CEO's. Our dues are nowhere near as outrageous if I went to one of those schools. There's plenty for you."

He had a point, but Emma always hated the feeling of being a charity case. Though in reality, her whole life was a walking charity case, but David and Ruth had always been different to her compared to any other foster or group homes. They had always treated her like family.

"This is just one of the instances where I'm going to pull the big brother card and go over your head and call mom."

Emma couldn't help the small smile that she graced him with. David had always seen himself as her big brother. Her protector.

"Fine," Emma grumbled. "But only for the necessities. Like dues and such."

"Yeah, sure." David waved his hand at her, and Emma had a feeling he was going to completely ignore that request when he called Ruth about the news.

"Going to the game?" Emma asked after she climbed off of his bed.

"Yeah." David lacked in real enthusiasm in his voice as he put his shoes on and grabbed what he needed for the game. "Jones and I made it clear that we all had to go because of Rush. So I'd better head that way so I'm not the last one to show. That wouldn't look good."

"Trust me, you won't be the last." Emma said with a laugh. "I bet Jones is still loitering on the front porch."

David rolled his eyes at her comment, but didn't deny what was likely to be the complete truth. "Sometimes, I don't know who is actually the president around here. Me or him?"

They were only partially wrong. Killian, while no longer on the front porch, was stretched out on one of the leather couches in the living room nursing what was probably rum in his flask.

"Get your sorry arse to the game," Killian yelled with a bitter laugh.

"You too." David reached over the back of the couch and grabbed Killian's flask away from him. "It's too early for this nonsense."

"Give that back you bloody do-gooder," Killian snarled, while pitching himself up to launch a counter attack and steal back what was rightfully his. He only paused when he saw Emma leaning on the door frame with a bemused expression on her face.

"C'mon Jones." David efficiently pocketed the flask. "We've a game to go to."

"Are you going to the game, Swan?" Killian asked completely ignoring his friend for his sister.

"Have you ever seen me at a game?"

Emma delighted in Killian's dumbfounded expression before he narrow his eyes at her. "Well, you've had a week of surprising people, what's one more new thing to add to the list."

"It might be good for you Emma to show your face at a game," David said. "School spirit is good for Rush."

"And spend the game with you two? No thanks," Emma pushed herself off the door frame, and while folding her arms she stared the two of them down. "And another thing… stop ordering your sophomores to sit with me me in the caf'."

That had been a strange moment the first time it happened. By the Rush rules, Emma could not have any contact with in girl in the sorority outside of Rush events. Her weekly dinners with Mary Margaret and Ruby had to be put on hold, and since Elsa often had night classes, Emma was rocking her dinners single style. The first evening David had sat with her and eventually Killian had come by to sit with her, but the next night 3 sophomore Pi Theta brothers joined her at her table. It was an odd moment, but considering she was David's sister, the first time they did this she blew it off.

The second time, however, she confronted them on what they were doing.

"The Captain told us to." The one with dark hair and the spattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose informed her.

"He told you what?" She asked while internally rolling her eyes at the nickname that underclassmen often called Killian.

"If we ever saw you eating alone, and he was not available, to come and join you."

"I'm not someone who needs to be babied," she said coming back to the present facing off the two of the biggest, most overprotective idiots she knew. "I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself."

The lewd face Killian was observing her with made her want to scream.

"So that's a no on the game then?" Killian asked with obvious disappointment.

Emma didn't bother with any reply when she waltzed out of the house and back towards her on campus apartment.

* * *

"That one's pretty," Elsa looked Emma up and down.

They had been at it all afternoon on this shopping excursion. It was the last thing Emma wanted to do on her one free day of the week, but Elsa had convinced her into giving up her Sunday so that she could help Emma find clothes suitable for Rush.

"This is ridiculous," Emma said for the millionth time. The only thing that Emma had bother to really look at after the Rush meeting last monday was the list of overbearing rules.

1\. No communication with current members in a sorority. Exceptions: If it is required in class to speak (for example: professor ordered partner work or group discussion).

2\. No fraternity parties.

3\. No current member can gift a potential member with anything and vice versa (this included sharing things like mints or gum).

4\. No photos can be taken at Rush events

5\. There can be no contact on social media between a current member and a potential member…..

6\. …..

The list went on and on, to the point where Emma was about 30 seconds shy of getting up and storming out of the reading of the rules. This was crazy. What was she doing with her life?

With the urging of Elsa, Emma finally pulled out the Rush packet that contain more details about the schedule of next week and low and behold- a dress code for each night.

No, no.. Emma needed out of this crazy plan.

"I think you shouldn't wear black," Elsa decided after Emma had tried on her 5th dress from just that one store alone.

"I like black," Emma said, while running her hands down the sides of the dress.

"Yeah," Elsa said shaking her head at her friend's stubbornness. "So does every other girl going through rush. Haven't you ever heard of the little black dress? You won't stick out if you wear that."

"Fine," Emma groaned going back into the changing stall and grabbed the last dress on the rack. It was a silk, green, jewel toned dress that had a loose open collar but draped down her body in just the right way and hitting the top of her knee.

"Oooo," Elsa's eyes had lit up when Emma had come out of the stall. "That's a winner."

* * *

The angry flash of her green eyes had caught his attention when Emma stormed into Philosophy of Law on Monday eyeing a new addition perched on their table talking to him.

Not that Killian was all that innocent in how he manipulated the situation in his favor. He was pre-law after all.

During the previous week whenever he inquired about being partners, she shut him down. Still being that stubborn Swan girl she was known for being, Emma had even informed him that she had addressed the situation of there being an odd number in the class with Dr. Gold. She had been given the go-ahead to go solo with the project.

Killian had decided that would not do, and had spent a week brainstorming how to get past her defenses until Saturday at the game and idea began to form.

Jenna Paxton, a hot redhead from Beta Upsilon Tau and also a fellow pre-law, had a approached him at the game to inform him that her former partner had dropped philosophy of law and she was in need of a new one. Throughout the entire first half of the game she had sat as close as possible to him trying to talk about the class with him often laying her hand on his thigh. It was hard to ignore, he was a guy after all and she was hot, but it didn't sit right with him. Every time she tossed her shiny red hair over her shoulder he couldn't help but imagine if it were blonde and what it would be like if Emma had attended the game with him. He could only imagine the witty and sarcastic remarks she would have voiced about the whole ordeal of the game and the antics that filled the student section.

Despite her unwelcome presence-which was thankfully cut short when one of her sisters informed her that she had to sit with her chapter: "rush rules," Jenna Paxton had given him something to chew on. Thanks to Jenna's info, Killian now knew that there was a currently an even number in Philosophy of Law which would ruin Swan's plans of working alone.

It was now up to him to determine who was without out a partner.

On Monday afternoon, Killian arrived at the designated classroom before anyone else. Definitely a first in his book. From then as fellow students started trickling in, he began conducting his own investigation to figure out who was partners with who. A stroke of luck came when the 5th person who walked in the class was that scary pre-law lass named Tamara (who Killian might or might not have gotten in a heated debate about children's rights last year and called him a "soft-hearted moron"). Turns out Tamara, the child hater, was partner-less and the perfect person who to threaten Swan with (considering Swan had stormed out of the very same class which Tamara had debated with him when the nasty wench started going on about charging children as adults with no exceptions of age or crime committed).

Looked like Swan's partner options were limited to the evil Tamara, lusty Jenna, or his good self.

Surely he would come out on top…

Emma's fiery gaze landed on him when she walked into the classroom and spotted Jenna perched on the tabletop near him. As Swan had to edge past Jenna to get to her seat, Killian saw those lovely eyes do a grand roll of annoyance.

"Ah, hello Swan," he greeted her as she dropped her things on the table next to him.

"Hey," she said. Her voice was tinted with cautious curiosity trying to figure out why they had company at their table.

"Killian," Jenna purred. She reached her hand out and petted his forearm lying on the table. "Please. I don't want to partner up with Tamara." Her voice dropped to a whisper, but not quiet enough for Emma not to hear.

"Well." He glanced over at Emma trying to find a way to stall Jenna. He didn't want coerce Emma into being his partner, but he didn't want to spend a semester studying alone with Jenna, or worse Tamara. "You see.. Swan here…" He waved a hand between them.  _C'mon Swan. Show a man some mercy._

"Is happy on her own." Swan smirked at him obviously reading into what he was trying to do.

"Yes you were," he agreed. "Until you found out that the odd number in the class had become and even one."

He could literally see the gears turning in her head. The smirk she had been sporting morphed into a frown she glanced between Killian and Jenna, and then she scanned the room, her eyes pausing over Tamara before looking back at him positively fuming. Normally he'd laugh at her ire and reach out to smooth away the furrow that had settled in between her eyebrows, but Killian knew that this moment hung in a delicate balance and didn't want Swan to make a rash decision against him.

"Partners?" Jenna asked ignoring (or really, obtusely not recognizing the tension between Killian and Emma). Hand still stroking his arm, she started to sway into his space, eyelashes batting, and trying her damnedest to convince him.

"Sorry," Emma said not even glancing their way as she pulled her laptop out of her bag. "He's taken."

Jenna froze and stared at Emma, who was still not looking at either of them.

"Huh?" Jenna stood from her perch on the table and look between them carefully.

"We're together." Swan's voice was dry as if she was already bored with the topic. "Partners." She clarified as Jenna continued to stare at them dumbfounded.

"Sorry lass." Killian was desperately trying to keep his voice even while failing at stuffing down his elation at Swan's change of mind.

"So the rumors are true." Jenna had finally snapped out of her stupor and a knowing look came upon her face.

"What?" Killian asked.

"You know," Jenna said nodding her head at Emma, then at him before sighing and sulking away from their table

Silence hung heavy at their table as both Emma and Killian watched Jenna retreat over to where Tamara the evil child hating wench sat.

"What was she talking about?" Emma asked just as Gold made his way into the room and a hush fell over their classmates.

Killian looked over at her and saw the same confusion all over her face that he was feeling. The furrow in between her brows was still present, and this time, Killian didn't hesitate to reach over and smooth it out with a finger. "I don't bloody know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the love!


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